Kindergarten Curriculum
HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN MUSIC?
Think about a little baby who has not yet learned to speak her first language. As she sits in a rich environment of an assortment of sounds and language she is continually growing in her ability to process speech and verbal communication. As this child grows she slowly learns to process the sounds. After much exposure and interaction with those around her, she begins to experiment with her own "dialect", perhaps mimicking the sounds that she has heard so many times before. Eventually, as she continues to grow and learn, she begins to translate her thoughts into meaningful sound patterns to communicate to others. Only after she has done all of these things does the girl eventually begin to speak in full sentences and finally learn to read and write. Just as the little baby girl must first have the exposure to language before learning to speak and read and write, so too must students have an exposure to music before learning to "speak" and "read" and "write" in the musical language.
MUSIC CURRICULUM AT PERRY ELEMENTARY
The Kindergarten Music Curriculum functions much like the world of a newborn baby. The Kindergarten students learn first and foremost how to listen to music, and then how to "Audiate" or "think music" in their head. After learning this primary skill, students can begin to learn other important musical concepts.
"Time to Audiate!"
SAME and DIFFERENT
Once the students have learned how to listen to music and audiate it in their heads, they can begin to explore the realm of same and different. Students must have a strong awareness of same and different before they can begin to do more complex tasks, such as analyzing musical form, echo or improvising patterns, moving to music, or analyzing visual representations of pitch and rhythm.
MOVEMENT! MOVEMENT! MOVEMENT!
The Kindergarten music curriculum is an active learning environment! Research shows that students become much better music makers when they can connect their music making to movement. WE MOVE A LOT! Students explore the movement elements of TIME, WEIGHT, SPACE, and FLOW in nearly all music activities.
(These concepts are part of the work of Rudolph Laban, a movement specialist - see link below)
Laban Movement Theory
As you can see, the Kindergarten students LOVE to move in the music room!
SINGING, CHANTING, AND INSTRUMENTS!
The Kindergarten students get to spend a LOT of time using their singing and chanting voices. The students are challenged to chant rhythm patterns together as a class and by themselves. and learn about feeling the beat and the microbeat in their bodies as they chant. After the students have developed a strong rhythm "vocabulary," the they are challenged to improvise rhythm patterns of their own! Students use their singing voices every day as we sing a variety of songs! The students learn about musical pitches and practice finding the Resting Tone (the "Home Note") of each song that we sing.
Students explore a variety of instruments such as tambourines, hand drums, egg shakers, and rhythm sticks. We are constantly finding new ways to make music with instruments!